


The Dragon, The King & The Candlelight

by Michevalier



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, 遊☆戯☆王SEVENS | Yu-Gi-Oh!: Sevens (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Curses, Dragons, Entrustshipping is a secondary ship, F/M, Feelings Realization, Friends to Lovers, HomuKiku, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, RoaRook, Royalty, Star-crossed, True Love, this fic is weird but I love it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:09:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24718060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michevalier/pseuds/Michevalier
Summary: Once upon a time, a Prince was cursed and doomed to eventually transform into a Dragon when the fragile candlelight of his human consciousness would fade away...
Relationships: Homura Takeru/Kamishirakawa Kiku, Kamijo "Rook" Tatsuhisa/Kirishima Roa
Comments: 11
Kudos: 5





	1. The Curse

Led by echoes of his wife's cries, King Takeru broke into the room to discover the terrifying scene.

His Queen, Kiku, was kneeling in front of the cradle. Cold tears kept rolling down her cheeks akin to that rain outside of the windows. The woman's beautiful golden eyes turned dull and blank as she sobbed, unable to take her gaze off the small creature, some sort of a lizard covered in blue scales and looking back at her with its own bloody crimson eyes.

As soon as King Takeru saw this, he gasped and reached for his sword... but then his arm was roughly stopped by the Queen's hand weakly gripping onto his sleeve.

"Do not!" she begged in a wobbly voice, choking on her own tears, yet watching her husband intensely. "This is our son..!"

"What.?!" King Takeru hardly had any time to react as a tiny flame appeared over his right shoulder.

"This is true," the flame transformed into a little humanoid creature, its butterfly-like wings flapped and glowed akin to candlelight. 

"Flame!" the King looked at the fairy as his face turned pallid. "What are you saying..?"

"Lightning," Flame uttered grimly, and this was enough for the King and the Queen's memories to flash back to that one day.

Prince Tatsuhisa was their long-awaited heir, their precious child. Their whole kingdom used to spend long days in unrest as Queen Kiku's frail health made it difficult for her to successfully conceive and carry her baby. King Takeru spent restless nights, praying to all gods and spirits of their world so that their child would be born healthy. Days and nights of endless prayers... and in the end they were blessed with their baby Prince.

Naturally, such a birth must have been celebrated with all grandeur. So King Takeru and Queen Kiku threw a huge feast. The celebration lasted for twelve days and twelve nights, the whole kingdom of Fire experienced nothing less than euphoria back then. Wine and honey kept flowing akin to rivers, everyone gave their blessings to the newborn Prince. 

And, of course, the most honoured guests were the Ignis fairies. Representing different sides of Mother Nature, they were capable of different sorts of miraculous magic. The Ignis gladly accepted their invitations to come and give their blessings to the Prince... however, one of the fairies was denied such and honour.

Lightning, the Ignis fairy of Light, had a rather bad reputation to his name. Despite the seeming holiness of his nature, he was rumoured to be actually responsible for many conflicts between different lands. Lightning literally ignited flames of war... and, on top of that, rumors regarding him being involved with evil magic circulated around as well.

So when skies turned black and thunder roared, announcing Lightning's arrival, King Takeru and Queen Kiku's hearts froze in horror.

Their minds were still in daze when the Light Ignis uttered those poisonous cursed words. They only came to their senses when their baby boy transformed into something lizard-like right in his crib.

" _May the Prince live as a Dragon and perish as one!_ " Lightning's curse was accompanied by roaring thunder.

Despair flooded the ballroom as soon as the evil fairy, laughing, vanished into a thin air, extinguishing all candles at once and submerging everything in darkness.

"But why?!" fast forward to the present, King Takeru cried out as his shoulders trembled in powerless fury. "Flame! I thought you and others reverted the curse..!"

The Fire Ignis lowered his head.

"That was what we said so that your kingdom could sigh in relief back then..."

When Lightning fled, the other Ignis fairies immediately combined all their powers and turned the Prince back into a human baby, however...

"However, Lightning has always been more powerful," Flame said grimly. "Much more powerful than even all of us together," he sighed heavily. "Yes, we were actually able to revert the curse... but only partially."

"What does this mean..?" King Takeru shuddered when he heard his wife's weak voice; Queen Kiku picked up her son with no hesitation and held him close to her chest.

"Aqua said," the Fire Ignis quoted his fellow fairy, the Water Ignis, said to them afterwards, privately. " _He shall keep on living as a human being... but his Dragon self will become more and more prevalent as time goes by. First, it will be once a month, then once a week, then every night when sunlight no longer touches his skin... and then, one day, the Prince shall be fully reborn as the Dragon when the candlelight of his human consciousness will fade away forever._ "

"Right..." Queen Kiku's voice trickled into a shaky whisper as she held her baby close; she never winced, only bit her lips when his claws dug into her left breast, hurting her. "Last night, I had that nightmare."

"Kiku..?" King Takeru walked up to her and hugged her fragile shivering shoulders.

"The lonely, abandoned tower somewhere far, far away amidst infertile wastelands... the sky above is always grey and dull as it is filled with nothing but ashes, so whenever it rains, it seems as if Heavens cry with black tears... The Dragon, the fearsome monster keeps on living there for ages and ages... alone, all alone."

Silence filled the room for a brief moment as several frail candlelights glowed weakly... and then all of them shuddered violently when Queen Kiku cried desperately.

"Don't tell me..! That my Prince is doomed to spend the whole eternity as that lonesome Dragon locked away in some tower!"

Her son let out some prolonged squeaky noise that sounded almost like wailing, so the Queen gasped and rocked him in her arms, trying to calm him down.

"Flame, please!" King Takeru begged the fairy on his shoulder. "Is there anything we can..?!"

"No," Flame's words sounded as mercilessly as a death sentence. "Alas... nothing can be done. When the time comes, you will _have to_ lock him away. For the sake of your kingdom..."

"Kingdom?" Queen Kiku chuckled bitterly as more tears streamed down her face. "But I can't have any more children... and you're saying that Tatsuhisa will eventually be g..."

The woman sobbed, unable to utter "gone" as all her words drowned in heart-wrenching lament.

And King Takeru, the almighty ruler of the land of Fire, at this very moment couldn't care any less about the devastating fact that one day their kingdom will inevitably end up without an heir.

He held his wife and son, crying just as much as dull candlelights flickered around.

The small claw mark on Queen Kiku's chest began to bleed... but the bleeding within the miserable parents' hearts was much, much worse.


	2. The Candlelight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I think I have to explain how in the world did I come up with such a crazy AU. 
> 
> Rook's actual name, Kamijo Tatsuhisa, when written in kanji can be translated as "dragon eternity" while his surname can mean "higher castle". Not to mention his weird "powers" in canon that could be interpreted as some sort of a curse, soooooo...
> 
> As for Roa, some elements of his design imply that he has Knights/Royalty theme to his character (besides, I learned that "King" in French is literally read as Roa even if it's written as Roi ^_^)
> 
> I was also heavily inspired this song: https://m.soundcloud.com/kevin-coron/confession (it has nothing to do with the plot itself, but it sure helped me to create the angsty mood)

"To be honest, I envy you," Prince Roa of the land of Light was watching clouds as they peacefully floated high above. 

"Eh?" Prince Tatsuhisa, or, how he would rather prefer himself being called, Rook, blinked at his friend as they were lying next to each other in the grass. "Why is that?"

"I heard you always had this much freedom," Roa chuckled and playfully pocked the other boy's nose. "Everyday routine of an average Prince is usually busy as their every minute is scheduled. I only get such rest when we visit you."

Every year for the last decade the royal family of the kingdom of Light had been spending their August holidays staying in their trusty allies' land, the kingdom of Fire. Thus, the two Princes, Roa and Rook, were destined to become close. They cherished every day they got to spend together and even when they had to be apart after Roa returned home, they kept exchanging letters. But at the moment, the two boys were spending idle hours in the royal garden, breathing in sweet fragrances of countless red roses.

"It's so boring back at home," Roa confessed. "Every day is nothing more than an endless cycle of studying, studying and studying. Father says it is necessary if I want to become the greatest King one day... and yet, here _you_ are. You get anything you want and whenever you want it. You get to play and have fun all day long."

"At least your room is not in dungeons," Rook then interrupted him, smiling sadly and causing the older boy to get his own twinge of melancholy.

After all, that was true. For some reason, Rook was forced to live separately from his own parents, in the underground zone also known as the Lower Castle. Sounded nice? Having such a big place designed all for oneself? Maybe... until one would realise that the huge area was pretty much akin to some sort of a prison. The Prince of Fire moved from his cosy and sunlit quarters to that damp and dark place when he turned eight, but ever since then his father and mother had been stubbornly refusing to explain this sudden change... nobody would tell him what in the world did he do to deserve that.

"I'm sorry," Roa sighed softly and held Rook's hand.

The Fire Prince's heart skipped a beat and stood still as their fingers laced together. This weird feeling again, mysterious warmth spreading right under his skin. It happened every time he and Roa touched each other... so frightening yet so pleasant.

"There are those nightmares, too," suddenly, Rook couldn't help but let it slip out of his mouth.

"Nightmares?" the Light Prince frowned, his grip on his friend's hand only got stronger, forcing the latter to blush.

"Yeah," Rook tried to avoid locking gazes with Roa, his pretty blue eyes that glimmered with sincere worry. "Every night, when I fall asleep, I end up in that dark place... heh, it's hard to even call it a "place". It feels more like an empty void where nothing exists but darkness."

"So..." Roa spoke carefully as he watched his friend's face turn pale. "What's with that darkness?"

"It sounds weird," the Fire Prince chuckled nervously, "but it always feels as if I'm not actually asleep at all... and my own body feels like it changes somehow. Like... gets bigger? But still, I can swear that I'm just dreaming."

"Gosh," Roa furrowed his brows again. "This sounds so... frightening."

"It sure is," Rook tried to cheer his friend up, but his smile turned out too clumsy. "But you know what is the scariest? Amidst all that darkness, there is only one source of light. It looks like a single candlelight. And it always feels as if it flickers in the same rhythm as my heart beats. I feel happy and safe whenever I look at it... but then I get so, so scared when I imagine what might happen to me if that little frigid light were to die down."

"Oh Rook..."

"Wha... Ah!" the Fire Prince gasped the moment Roa rolled over and ended up lying right on top of him, holding him in his arms.

"Everything is okay," Roa whispered, tightening his embrace around his friend and stroking his blue hair; even though he had never had such nightmares of his own and was unable to fully understand Rook, he still chose to support him in whatever way he could. "Everything is alright. Look, it's daylight now. And I am here, too. Right here, with you."

"Y-you!" stuttering, Rook felt his cheeks growing redder, much redder than all these roses around them. "R-Roa! What do you think you're doing?! Get off me! You're heavy!"

"Aww, how rude!" Roa pouted and pinched both of his friend's cheeks, pulling at his face. "This isn't something a Prince should say!"

"You're not a lady, so you'll be fine!" Rook laughed, jerking his knee up and kicking Roa right in his stomach.

"Meanie!" the Light Prince grinned back at him and lunged forward, pretending to bite at Rook's neck.

"Hey, _ew_!" Rook made a funny grimace, and the two boys, laughing at the top of their lungs, began rolling around in the grass, hugging.

About a couple of minutes later, the two of them were lying next to each other again, trying to catch their breath.

"Hey..." Roa sighed and looked at his friend. "Feeling better now?"

"My throat is dry as hell," Rook laughed. "But otherwise, yeah, I'm totally fine!"

"Good," the Light Prince smiled softly and held the other boy's hand again. "Let's chat about something else then?"

"Like what?" Rook had a hard time trying to understand whether his cheeks still felt warm because of their recent goofying around or because of how lovely Roa's smile was.

"Why do you think we spend every August together?"

"Why..?" Rook took a pause to think about it and then shrugged. "Well, because our kingdoms are allies? Isn't that obvious?"

"Both your and my kingdoms have got many allies," Roa slightly frowned. "But only my parents have been staying over at your parents', not to mention that it has been like this for, what, ten years?"

"Hmm... What if they are planning to unite our lands one day?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sounds possible... but then, it's even weirder."

"Why is that?"

"Why?" Roa's eyes got bigger as he stared at Rook in disbelief. "Oh come on! Think about it. What is the best and the most efficient way to create a strong everlasting alliance to the point of uniting two kingdoms in one?"

"Well..." Rook's face burst into the deepest shade of crimson. "R-Romin! For that to happen, your sister and I must..!"

"Political marriage, right," Roa nodded with all seriousness reflected on his face. "And yet, somehow, there haven't been any discussions regarding your betrothal."

"Hehe, maybe that's for the best?" the Fire Prince chuckled awkwardly. "After all, Romin doesn't even like me, so..."

"You know there's little room for love in arranged marriages, right?" sorrow glinted on the very surface of Roa's eyes as the corners of his lips dropped. "But you know... _I_ wouldn't mind marrying you if only there were such a possibility."

The wind gently rustled among the leaves of rose bushes, cradling itself next to butterflies... which then fluttered away in panic the very moment Rook exploded with thunderous laughter.

"Wh-what are you blabbering about, dumbass?!" the Fire Prince laughed so hard that his stomach began to hurt.

"Hey, "dumbass" is not something a royalty should say, you dumbass!" Roa laughed together with him.

Their shared laughter, pure and innocent, soared high into the sky that was about to be fully conquered by grim, grey clouds.

_~~~_

"Your Majesty," a tall slender man with a long red braid hung over his right shoulder bowed; he raised his golden eyes as he noticed that his sovereign was rubbing his temples, his face became even more exhausted these days.

"Flame..." King Takeru's voice was no longer anywhere close to his usual jovial tone... in fact, nobody in the kingdom of Fire heard their ruler laugh for at least the last two years. "Kiku got sick."

"Ah..." the Ignis was taken aback by this news, and yet he tried to keep his visible composure. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope Her Majesty gets better soon."

The King could only smile weakly in reply.

His wife's health had been steadily declining throughout all those years. Queen Kiku did no longer looked like a beautiful cheerful woman she used to be when she and her husband said their wedding vows. She turned into a shell of her previous self: much skinnier, her face became pallid, her pretty golden eyes lost their luster... she became so much akin to a candle that was about to fade away.

"It looks like she caught a cold," King Takeru sighed wearily. "Gods... More and more often lately I've been wondering... what in the world did we do to deserve all this..?"

There was total silence when his and Flame's eyes met, and the Ignis knew that his sovereign expected his daily report about the Prince... and lack of good news.

"His Highness's cycle has been getting shorter," alas, Flame had to confirm that. "Previously, he had transformed into his Dragon form exactly at midnight, but nowadays it has been happening earlier and earlier. I'm afraid, he is going to be transforming as soon as the very first star appears in the night sky at this rate."

"I am so grateful that you are here to look after him," King Takeru got up from his throne and walked up to the window, looking at the two Princes playing tag in the garden.

"I would do anything for you and your family," the Ignis stood next to the King. "For that purpose, I discarded my life as a fairy and took upon this human form... and I never regretted that."

A long history tied the Fire Ignis fairy with King Takeru. Their bond was all about friendship and devotion, so as soon as the royal family came up with the only right solution to have Flame become Prince Tatsuhisa's personal attendant, no questions were asked.

"So..." King Takeru watched his still carefree son, still a human boy, having so much fun, and his lips reflexively curled into a soft smile, even if his heart clenched in pain. "Can you tell me a bit more about your research?"

Aside from his routine duties of looking after Prince as his attendant, Flame had been keeping a close eye on his metamorphosis as well. He knew all too well that he was powerless to lift the curse for good, but at least he could study it, making sure that it caused no more significant harm than it already had just by its existence alone.

"Fortunately, the transformation has been occurring painlessly," Flame began speaking. "So His Highness never realises that something is going on with him. That's a good thing since he was never told about his curse. Thus, when he changes his form, it feels like he is just falling asleep."

"That's a good thing. I don't want him to suffer... at least for now," King Takeru shuddered at the sudden sound of thunder and watched the two Princes yelp and run back into the castle to hide from the heavy shower.

"The Prince has a hard time recognising anyone when he is in his Dragon form, though," Flame continued. "His human consciousness is getting weaker at that time... he always describes it as being somewhere in the darkness with only a single candlelight as his salvation. I believe, what he sees as his "candlelight" is actually a manifestation of his human consciousness. As long as that little drop of light is there, he can still remain a human deep inside... but should it die down, he'll be forced to wander in that boundless darkness for all eternity... forever lost and succumbed to his beastly self entirely."

"And that "candlelight" is growing weaker each day, huh..?" King Takeru said in a quiet, sorrowful voice.

"I'm afraid so. And I fear that if... if something happens to his mother, this process might even go faster."

"At this point in time, I suppose, the only thing I can do is wonder whom shall I lose first," a teardrop ran down the King's cheek.

Flame said nothing. He had no appropriate response, so he could only lower his eyes.

They stayed silent for a while, listening to the raging hailstorm hitting against windows.

"At least..." and then King Takeru was the first one to shatter that silence. "At least our land is going to end up in good hands when the day comes for me to hand over my crown to the Light dynasty."

Flame frowned.

"Sir, about that," he spoke in a cold voice. "Are you absolutely certain this is the right thing to do? Signing our kingdom over to them just like that is..."

"Kiku and I won't have any more children, that is obvious," King Takeru replied in an even colder tone. "I know, some suggested that it's not too late for me and I should look for... ugh, "another" way to produce an heir, but..."

But both the King and Flame knew that it was not an option as Takeru had always loved his wife too much and valued fidelity above everything else.

"Your Majesty," but then the Fire Ignis spoke again. "There is one thing that has been bothering me about the Light kingdom."

"And that is..?"

"We know that... that scoundrel, Lightning, originated from those lands and long time ago he used to associate with that dynasty."

"Oh, that," King Takeru smiled feebly. "Are you implying that Lightning might actually still be in cahoots with them? That all tragedies which happened to us were orchestrated by the Light dynasty to take over our land?"

"Sir," Flame said sternly. "There is always such a possibility. Politics..."

"Politics is a dirty thing," the King returned to his throne and took a seat. "I know that. But they exiled Lightning ages ago and, besides, they have been our allies for almost four generations."

"This is still..."

"As long as the signing goes peacefully and no bloodshed happens, there is no threat."

Flame yet again found no words for a proper response.

Suddenly, childish joyous laughter echoed in the corridor outside of the throne room.

"Hey, Flame?" King Takeru chuckled bitterly. "Do you know why our Prince hasn't been following a Prince's usual routine?"

"...Because you want him to spend the rest of his human days blissfully," Flame answered right away. "Even if it means spoiling him rotten."

King Takeru laughed, but his laughter was so full of anguish that the Fire Ignis's heart clenched painfully.

After all, he knew all too well that his King loved his only son more than anything else in the world... and he was about to lose him. For all eternity.

_~~~_

Less than a year had passed when the Light kingdom's royal family visited the lands of Fire next time. Alas, this time the reason was nowhere as joyful as usual.

Queen Kiku passed away after her prolonged illness, and the whole kingdom of Fire dressed in mournful black attires. There had been an unusual silence in the castle for several days. Maids, dressed in black, akin to inaudible shadows glided along the corridors, trying not to catch anyone's eye. Men in black clothes, having appeared on the first day of this silence, put the castle in mourning, and retired away, leaving the tiny royal family alone with their grief.

The whole world of Rook, already limited only by this castle, had stopped entirely. It felt as if his already dark dungeon, his Lower Castle, became even grimmer and colder. He rarely left his room anymore, preferring to stay locked inside. He no longer had any tears to shed as his sorrow ate upon his heart so bad that he bawled his eyes out on the very day his mother took her last breath... and ever since then he felt nothing but vast emptiness within his soul.

Even his weird "dreams" lasted longer and longer recently... he "fell asleep" as soon as the evening sun disappeared behind the horizon.

Alone... He had never felt so alone in his life before.

"Rook," Roa sat behind the younger Prince and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, holding him in a warm embrace.

Well, at least Rook had his most beloved friend in the world staying by his side at the moment.

Roa raised his head and followed Rook's gaze that had been glued to one spot for several minutes already.

A single chandelier on the table. Three candles in it. Two of them lit, their sickly yellowish lights flickered feebly. The third one was extinguished... to be never lit again.

For some reason, an afterimage of Queen Kiku's beautiful golden eyes reflecting dancing candlelights resurfaced from the depths of Roa's memory.

"You know," Rook's words were like a bolt from the blue, "this might be the last time we get to see each other."

Roa shuddered, his blood froze. His blue and Rook's crimson eyes met... and those ruby coloured eyes were fully devoid of life, resembling empty orbs made of glass.

"Father told me this morning," the Fire Prince attempted to smile, but it turned out so forced and artificial that it only added to the bitterness already overflowing in Roa's heart. "In a month or so, I'll be sent away from here."

"Sent away?" Roa helplessly echoed him. "To where?"

"I don't know," Rook shook his head. "But from the way Father worded it, I figured that somewhere far, far away... and, most likely, I won't be coming back."

"Th-that's impossible!" Roa raised his voice, it was shaking. "Come on! You're the Prince! The heir to this throne! I'm sure it must be a..."

"What if I'm also terminally ill?" Rook cut him off rather harshly. "Like Mother? And that's why Father is getting rid of me? Not to witness me dying, too?"

Grim silence filled the room as the two remaining candlelights trembled anxiously, casting gloomy shadows on the Fire Prince's face.

"That would actually explain something you wondered about," Rook could no longer bear looking into Roa's eyes, so he turned away. "Why haven't I been undergoing my "princely" training? Heh... because I'm not becoming the King, so it's not needed. As for Father and everyone making me into a spoiled brat? Hah! But of course! I won't live for too long! Might as well have fun before dying soon!"

"Rook..."

No words. Even their heartbeats died down. This silence was literally deafening, but then...

"You are cursed."

Three words. Only three words ended up being akin to an explosion inside an anechoic chamber. The explosion that turned it into a wreck in less than a mere second... just like Rook's entire world had turned upside down so suddenly that he went dizzy.

"Ro... a?" he gaped at his friend, his eyes bulged in shock. "What the..?"

"I've heard this rumours over and over again all these years," the Light Prince looked at him seriously. "That story about you being cursed soon after your birth and transformed into a Dragon."

"W-well, yeah..." Rook felt so lost and dizzy; he was endlessly grateful that he had Roa to lean against, otherwise he would have collapsed. "But wasn't that curse lifted right after? By the five Ignis fairies? Like, I am human... right?"

"You are... at the moment. But think about it: we haven't been able to spend any time together after sunset these days? Flame takes you away and locks you here, in dungeons."

"That's true..." Rook bit his lips hard so hard that they hurt; lots of seemingly forgotten memories came flooding to him: every time his Father refused to look him in the eyes, every time Mother smiled at him so sadly that his heart ached unexplainably... and that eerie growling that reverberated somewhere deep inside him whenever he would "awake" amidst the darkness, with only that single candlelight to keep him sane.

Now it all made sense.

And yet...

"Why?" Rook clenched his fists, but he was too weak to try and break out of Roa's embrace, so he could only sob. "Why the hell are you telling me this then?"

"Because I don't want you to think like your life is over," Roa held him tighter.

"Isn't it though?" the Fire Prince huffed at him bitterly. "Knowing that soon enough I'm gonna face something _worse_ than death!"

"There is no such thing as an irreversible curse," Roa stroked his hair softly.

"Oh yeah?!" Rook violently jerked his head to the side, avoiding his touch. "Then why in the world am I still being treated like... like..!"

"They must have not found a way to lift it yet," the Light Prince replied sternly. "Perhaps, right now, it really is impossible, but who knows? Maybe one day..."

Rook interrupted him as he could no longer hold his tears back, letting it all stream down his face. He kept biting his own lips until they started bleeding, and it was then when Roa could no longer take it. 

"Listen," he spoke confidently as he gently took his friend's chin and made their eyes meet once more, "I know this is horrible and no one can possibly understand your pain, but, remember, I'll never see you as a... a monster. You're my everything, Rook. And I mean it, for real."

"Roa..." the Fire Prince sniffled as he ended up being squeezed in the other boy's arms.

"We'll never be separated," Roa promised. "And even if we are, we'll still have hope as long as we live."

Rook's tearful eyes widened as he realised.

When Roa repeated himself again like that... his words were more powerful than any magic.

And yet it was quite obvious that he was trying desperately to convince himself... his trembling fingers as he clutched Rook tightly in his embrace told the Fire Prince that he was just as scared as him.

And that realisation alone was enough to significantly lessen the burden on Rook's heart.

"So when the time comes," he smiled, hugging Roa in return, "you will come and save me?"

"I will," the Light Prince pulled away only so that he could wipe his friend's tears. "This is my holy oath to you."

"You'd better then!" Rook sniggered at him. "Or else I'll bite your stupid head off! And this is _my_ oath!"

The two boys laughed, the mood improved instantaneously as all grim shadows were scared away by their pure light-hearted auras.

"Hey," suddenly, Rook grinned at Roa, "will you sing something for me?"

"Aww," the Light Prince smirked back and coiled his arms around his friend's waist as he put his chin on his shoulder. "What's this? A baby wants a lullaby?"

"Shush!" Rook hissed at him, even though he was blushing. "I just love your voice, okay? It's so amazing."

"Why, thank you," Roa chuckled, his own cheeks turned rosy. "This means a lot to me. Well then..."

Smiling, Rook closed his eyes.

The world faded to black... only this time his imagination transformed Roa's sweet, melodic voice into magic that caressed his inner candlelight, making the flame grow bigger and glow brighter.

So, so much brighter.


	3. The King & The Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must say, this chapter was a bit too intense to write... but I'm not disappointed with the result! ^_^

Roa lunged out of the way as the fire blast zipped past him. It smashed into the wall behind him, a terrifying roar shook the very ground under his feet. The young King hid behind the nearest debris, desperately trying to catch his breath. Gigantic footsteps thumped just like his own heart that was about to rip apart in chaotic arithmya. Roa swallowed, trying his best to calm down and not think about facing his own death just a few moments ago.

Six years. Six long years had passed, and there hadn't been any day when Roa wouldn't imagine this confrontation... and yet it was so much different from what usually took place within the realm of his imagination.

The King looked down at the sword he was clutching in his shaky hand. It was powered up, charged by the most powerful Light magic. If he used it how it was meant to be used...

Another earth-shattering roar erupted so close to the young man that his heart almost stopped.

No, King Roa had never been a coward. In fact, he was the bravest Knight in his country... but still, it was one thing battling against some ferocious mindless beast.

And a whole different one to fight someone so precious to his heart.

He hissed, cursed and sputtered as a pair of teardrops ran down his ash-stained face.

And yet he still held up his weapon in front of himself in a gesture so similar to that of a prayer.

"Rook..." he reminded himself that it wasn't just some devilish creature he was up against.

A fleeting memory of that boy's shiny smile came to his mind, and that alone was enough to give him strength, so he held onto his sword as tight as he could and rushed out of his refuge with a violent cry.

His crystal pure tears were caught by the wind.

_~~~_

Weak. He was so weak.

Rook barely existed outside of this darkness anymore. More and more time he would spend in his Dragon form while the frigid candlelight of his human consciousness melted away with each passing day. And the more it did, the more frail Rook's soul became. Even at this very moment he was collapsed amidst this empty void, too weak to move even a fingertip.

Cold. It was so cold.

He was frozen to his bones, to his very heart. He could no longer feel his own limbs... he wasn't even sure whether they still existed or had been already swallowed up by this eerie growling darkness.

Yes, he was being eaten alive inside his own mind.

The feebly flickering candlelight reflected in his dull, lifeless eyes in the exact rhythm his heart was beating, so, so slowly.

Echoes of a battle, faint images of it kept flashing in that tiny bundle of light. Some knight was struggling, fighting against the beast... against _him._ Nerve impulses akin to ripples were resounding in Rook's dying human self, he realised that outside of this darkness he-Dragon fought back with all ferocity, and this warrior over there would be killed. Just like so many other fools who, yearning for glory to their names, dared to try and slay the monster.

To slay _him_.

Well... whatever.

Rook knew all to well that regardless of this fight's outcome he would still perish, melt and fade away just like this fragile candlelight... and it was only for the best really.

Long, endless days in this goddamn tower. He was so tired of them. The first few years he survived on supplies he was provided with by his father, but recently he was forced to switch to move, rats, bats and other animals that were somehow stupid enough to wander in these wastelands. Most of the time, however, he forced himself to stay hungry. So, so hungry that no wonder his physical human self, whenever it would still emerge for just half an hour per day, was basically a living skeleton. Sometimes, when he was stuck in the darkness, he had visions of himself attacking the nearest to his tower lands... feasting on its population and, thus, expanding the wastelands all around his territory.

Sick. It was so sick.

Maybe he should just let this knight kill him for good?

Rook closed his eyes... and suddenly a warm afterimage resurfaced from the deepest part of his memory.

" _We'll never be separated_ ," that sweet voice echoed in his very heart. " _And even if we are, we'll still have hope as long as we live. As long as we live..._ "

But Roa never came.

And yet, somehow, Rook could never hate him for that.

Memories of the two of them alone were enough to keep the candlelight of consciousness burn for a little longer... but pretty soon it would die down anyway.

And then Rook wouldn't need to suffer, he...

"ROOK!!!"

All of a sudden, the bundle of light burst, growing into a whole fire.

The warrior he was fighting against threw his own sword aside and spread his arms wide, almost as if for an embrace, just before a large tail hit him and sent him flying backwards. The knight's helmet swung into the air...

Two faces, two people, one from the sunlit past and one right there, underneath a huge dragon paw, overlapped.

Rook felt like screaming in pain when two, only two words fluttered out of that person's mouth.

_~~~_

"Kill me."

Roa was sprawled on the black charred ground, facing his own demise in the guise of a Dragon who was almost thrice as big as him. The creature crushed the young King's chest, stepping on it, and only his armour protected him from being torn into shreds by those horrendous claws. The Dragon's icy blue scales reflected the setting sun's crimson light, making it seem as if the beast was covered in blood. And yet... an important detail was missing from the whole picture of a killer beast.

Its eyes. Its ruby eyes reflected nothing but perplexity. It... Rook lowered his long neck to stare closer into Roa's face and realised...

He meant what he said.

And that made his heart clench in the sharpest pain.

Rook lost track of the days he anticipated this meeting, he kept living solely for the sake of this moment where he could see Roa again, and yet... and yet..!

"I-I'm sorry," it was difficult for Roa to talk as he had to endure that tremendous pressure on his ribcage; but then he smiled weakly when the paw shuddered and stopped crushing him, moving aside. "You're still there... huh? At least a little bit?"

He raised his arm, reaching out to touch the Dragon's snout... and Rook responded by softly nuzzling against his palm.

"I'm so glad," Roa's face brightened, tears ran down his cheeks. "At least I get to talk to _you_ for the last..."

The King's eyes widened in shock as he saw that tears accumulated in the Dragon's own crimson orb like eyes and streamed down his snout.

" _Why..?_ "

_~~~_

"Why..?" Rook whispered in the darkness, kneeling and holding the significantly grown candlelight close to his chest.

Roa couldn't hear him, he knew that, so it hurt him even worse.

This pain was unbearable. He wanted to cry, his agony was so bad that even flames of Hell wouldn't burn him so much. Pain circulated in his veins, it felt as if he was riddled with rose thorns.

He wanted to see Roa so much... he never hoped for him to come and miraculously break his curse, no.

Just getting to see him at least one last time before his human consciousness would fade away... that was enough.

So he could not understand: why was Roa suddenly torturing him?

_~~~_

"I'll just cut to the chase, alright?" the King kept softly stroking the Dragon's snout, the two of them were crying together. "When you were sent away, King Takeru officially declared you dead. You succumbed to the same disease Queen Kiku did. After about a year of mourning, your Father decided to give up on his crown and sign over his kingdom to my family. At first, it went smoothly, but soon after King Takeru got sick... heh, no. My dear Mother just put some of her "favourite" poison in his drink. To tell you the truth, Mother had always loved dealing with her enemies in such a way."

Rook froze as he stared into Roa's eyes. He begged for the story's continuation to _not_ be what he expected... but it was.

"I'm sorry," Roa's hand on his snout trembled. "Your Father struggled for two whole months before passing away. And that cemented my own Father's reign even further... but not for long. Less than a year had passed before my parents got to taste that very same "medicine". This was _my_ gift for them."

The King chuckled bitterly as soon as he saw the Dragon's eyes widen in shock.

"Don't be so surprised. My whole lineage is rotten... Didn't you know? Apparently, they never cut ties with that bastard Ignis fairy, Lightning, entirely... My ancestors exiled him only to make themselves not look like warmongers, but in actuality they had always wished to get their hands on your lands... and, in the end, they did."

Rook's heart stopped.

The Lightning kingdom, his homeland's main allies... betrayed them in the worst way possible.

"And something tells me," Roa went on after taking a deep breath, "that this is still not the end. Lightning wants to hoard our united lands all for himself. And he's gonna do that because..."

Rook could hardly believe it. There was so much of melancholic softness in Roa's eyes, and it felt worse, much worse than having his very heart pierced right through with a sword.

"Because I don't need any kingdom, I don't need any power," Roa was bawling his eyes out. "All I need is you, Rook. It has always been this way, ever since we were just dumb kids... I love you. And I'm so sorry that I am partially responsible for all bad things that have ever happened to you. Forgive me... after all, I've never found the way to lift your curse. Heh... I can only talk too much. But at least... at least there is still one thing I can give you."

Rook's paralyzed heart ached so bad, he could no longer breathe.

He already knew, just by looking into Roa's eyes, what a horrible thing he was about to say.

And so he did.

"I'm giving you this chance to retaliate. Please... burn me alive, rip me apart, eat my guts. As long as you get your justice, I'm more than satisfied... no, I will be happy!"

_~~~_

Rook was standing amidst the darkness as his candlelight kept growing and growing until it became a full-fledged pillar of fire or, rather, a fiery mirror that was showing him all his and Roa's memories together. Reminiscences flashed before his very eyes every single time the fire flickered and danced.

Their first meeting. Back then Roa failed to give him a good first impression, so their parents had to literally keep them apart, just to prevent them from fighting.

Oh, and this was the time when Rook accidentally pricked his finger on a rose thorns, and Roa, that idiot, thought it was actually a good idea to just suck on his fingertip 'till it would get better.

And those were memories from that day when they decided to mess with Romin and hid her favourite doll. Oh gods, what a trouble did they end up getting themselves into! And yet they would laugh whenever they would reminiscence about that in the future.

As for this one... That night when they snuck out of the castle just to stargaze. Roa told him that Rook's eyes were like rubies and that he had always adored them. Their faces were so close that the Fire Prince had an impression they were about to kiss... but Roa only laughed and pinched his nose.

So many precious memories that did not get lost in the darkness that had been engulfing Rook's soul all those years... and to think that Roa was so close to throwing them all away!

Rook cried from the very bottom of his heart as the candlelight of his humanity burst into a wildfire, blinding him.

His whole world turned pure white.

_~~~_

"So you're basically abandoning my... your kingdom like that? Damn, you _are_ a dumbass!"

Roa's blue eyes shot wide open as he gaped at the Dragon.

"R-Rook?!" he gasped. "You..! You can _talk_?!"

"Can I?" the Dragon tilted his head. "Wow, I have never been _this_ conscious before while in this form. Anyway, are you an idiot? Are you really gonna let that Lightning win for good? What kind of a King you are?!"

"Hey, "dumbass" is not something a royalty should say, you dumbass!" Roa laughed; Rook bared his fangs, but that was just his clumsy attempt at smiling in return.

"If you are so willing to die, why do you need a sword?" the Dragon frowned, looking at the tossed aside weapon.

"Heh..." Roa smiled bitterly. "Just thought it was more appropriate for a King to perish in a battle."

"Idiot," Rook huffed in his face. "You've always been one, and that's what I've loved about you the most."

"Y-you have?" the King's face turned bright red, but then he shook his head sadly. "But still, your curse..."

"Curse-shmurse," the Dragon sighed. "Listen, I think I can understand it now, why my human consciousness have never faded away. Roa... _you_ have always been the one who kept that puny candlelight burning. On that day, when you said that we would always be able to stay together as long as we lived... you lit another flame deep inside me. And that one would never die down... cause it was hope which you gave me to keep on living even if I could hardly exist as a human anymore!"

"Rook..." Roa's heart kept pounding as the tip of the Dragon's tail gently caressed his face.

"You were the one who said there was no such thing as irreversible curses, right?" Rook looked up into the sky; a few sunbeams poked here and there through those thick black clouds full of ashes. "Do you still believe that?"

"Heh," Roa smirked as he brought himself up on his elbows. "When you say it like that, I simply cannot help it."

"Lightning was the one who started all this mess?" Rook bared his fangs in yet another awkward imitation of a grin. "What do you say? How about we go right now, find him and kick his butt once and for all?"

"We won't have to look for him for too long," Roa said. "He hangs around the castle from time to time. That bastard probably thinks he can make himself home there. And, speaking of that, he forced Flame to leave the kingdom, most likely making him return to the land of the Ignis."

"Then let's go pick the good ol' man up, too, and then kick some butt!" the Dragon spread his wings wide. "And while beating some crap out of him, we might also make him talk about how to undo my curse!"

"Sounds hopeful," the King smiled softly.

"Hell yeah!" 

Rook offered Roa the tip of his tail akin to a hand to help him get up. The young King held onto it tightly and then gasped as he was literally pulled into the air and ended up landing onto the Dragon's back.

"Just hold on tight, okay?" Rook winked at him. "I promise, I won't let you fall."

"I know you won't," Roa chuckled, hugging the Dragon's long neck.

The King's and the Dragon's eyes locked in a prolonged warm gaze... and, suddenly, both of them realised that they actually figured the way to get rid of that curse. Strange tingling sensation in their lips overwhelmed them just for a moment... but they both only smiled, having decided to wait a little bit more.

Kicking some nasty Ignis's butt came first and foremost.


End file.
